


Two Shadows

by WantonFlesh



Category: Dishonored (Video Games), Thief (Video Game 2014)
Genre: Acceptance, Emotions, High Chaos Corvo Attano, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Mentions of Suicide Attempt, Non-Consensual Kissing, Past Rape/Non-con, Possessive Behavior, Scars, Sobbing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-06-15 13:03:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15413526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WantonFlesh/pseuds/WantonFlesh
Summary: Garrett has always kept people at a distance, the safest way to continue being the greatest thief in the city. Corvo sees himself in Garrett - how he pushes people away - and decides to tear those fortified walls down, only to find that there is a deeper reason why Garrett is so reluctant to trust anyone.





	Two Shadows

Harsh shadows danced in the candlelight, the flame whipped by the wind of the struggle between the two men. Corvo pinned the man below him to the bed with his weight, his dark blue coat black and ominous in the large dim room. Garrett had a smaller frame and he knew he was pinned for good. His hands were folded above him together in Corvo's vice-like grip and he knew it was useless, but he fought against him anyway.  


He was terrified and didn't know how things had escalated to this. They’d had an argument. Garrett said some things he didn't mean and told him to leave. But he never expected Corvo to act out this way. Maybe the man had flipped after all and killed the Empress.  


No, Corvo had loved her, Garrett determined. It made no sense for him to kill her. But he still could have gone crazy from grief and betrayal. There wasn't a better reason now for him to have suddenly snapped the way he did. Now he was held down beneath him, at his mercy. 

"Corvo! What are you doing?!" Garrett fought out, trying to kick as he screamed the words, to no avail. Corvo didn't say anything, seemingly spaced out. Then he sharply brought his face up to meet his gaze and Garrett shuddered. His eyes didn't have the crazy, hard edge that Garrett was expecting, but they were even more black and intense than before. Black hole eyes. "Say something!" He breathed heavily. "What the hell?!" 

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." 

Garrett was speechless for a few moments, panic slowing down. _Well, great job on that one,_ he almost said, but he didn’t want to admit he was afraid. Instead, he gestured to his legs and arms, still pinned down. "Well?!" 

"Oh. I meant to do this." 

Garrett stilled at the words and his heart started to beat fast in sharp contrast to the slow ticking of the clock tower. Now he didn’t care to hide his terror. He didn't think that Corvo had those kinds of intentions, but now he was not sure. Something in his voice--an edge. Garrett had heard it before. 

He froze now as he did then, remembering the predatory glint in his last attackers’ eyes. Corvo noticed the change. The tang of Garrett’s fear permeated the air. A part of him liked it - seeing the vulnerability in him, a breach in the stone wall he used to keep everyone out. But the rest of him hated it. He knew that Garrett, though uncomfortable with being touched, did not scare easily. Someone had done something to Garrett and it scarred him, and Corvo hated whoever it was especially because now he was looking at him like a trapped animal. 

"I'm not going to hurt you, Garrett." 

Hearing his own name in a strong voice that he was familiar with seemed to sober Garrett up a bit, but his voice still shook with nerves. "Then what are you going to do?" 

Corvo seemed to consider the question for a moment, far too long for Garrett's comfort. He looked his body up and down, making Garrett shiver and trust his statement even less. Finally, he said, "Something you won't like." 

But he was already doing that and he knew it. He had crossed so many of Garrett’s boundaries. Garrett did not like to be touched and he did not like to be terrified by people he thought he had predicted correctly. And he did not like that every time Corvo got close--too close like he was now--Garrett's blue eye would get hot and overwhelming, but it didn't hurt. It felt good and Garrett didn't like that either. 

Corvo shifted, moving up slowly to unfairly pin both of Garrett's hands with just one of his own. Corvo proceeded to use his other hand to undo the straps and padding on the shoulders and arms, and then he took off the leather gloves, which was difficult and drawn out with Garrett's flailing. Then he worked on taking off the harness, gentle but firm in every movement so as to not tear the leather. Garrett was grateful for that at least, but he was still angry and confused and even more terrified at what Corvo was doing, and he used curse words he hadn't used in years. 

Corvo ignored the writhing and profanities, and when he had wrestled off the warm linen vest underneath his eyes poured over Garrett's chest and stomach, noticing how subtle shadows danced around some of the more prominent scars in the flame's flickering light. Garrett looked away and went tense, paralyzed with fear once again. He tried not to panic again as he realized Corvo had lied and was probably going to have him right here, right now, against his will. 

Corvo saw the sharp turn of the other man's head and felt his body trembling. Garrett was petrified. He thought this was going somewhere else. 

"I didn't lie before," Corvo said in his calmest and most even voice. "If I wanted to hurt you, or do...that, I would have by now." 

Garrett didn't look at him or acknowledge what he said in any way. He could be lying. 

He was mad that his own body quivered against his wishes, revealing just how scared he was, but he was fucking terrified. Images of another, more violent scuffle from just a few months ago flashed repeatedly in Garrett's head. He couldn’t bring himself to trust Corvo’s words. Struggling did nothing. He was going to have to let Corvo do what he was going to do and then deal with the damage afterward. 

Corvo breathed out a sigh, and stilled for a moment, taking some of his weight off Garrett, and thus drawing his attention. It seemed he was lost in thought again. Things stilled in the dark, the only sounds being the ticking of the tower's clock gears and the two men's breathing. "You've never had anyone who's really cared about you, have you?" Corvo was not being condescending in asking; it was an honest question. 

Garrett abruptly turned toward him, the question catching him off guard. "Of course." The answer was too quick, too defensive. Corvo gave him a soft but stern look. Garrett thought about it more. His closest friend was Basso, but he was in it for the gold, no matter how friendly he'd become. There was Erin, but they broke ties after she became reckless. There was the Queen of Beggars and she had helped Garrett at times, but they were not close and whatever she saw in helping Garrett was for a higher "balance" of the world. Corvo was still waiting. 

"No," he finally answered quietly, but it wasn't sad. Garrett knew that was the price of living in the shadows; the price of being a ghost. 

Corvo seemed satisfied with the answer. "You think that's the way it has to be, but it doesn't." 

Garrett fixed him with an accusatory look. He didn't have to speak for Corvo to get what he was asking: how the hell would you know? 

Corvo answered, "You remind me of myself, before. The way you close yourself off.” He paused, thinking. “As a kid, things were rough. I was no good at pickpocketing, and I was getting robbed at every corner myself, so I had to learn how to fight. I got good with a sword, entered the Blade Verbena and won, and soon they sent me to Dunwall as a sort of gift. I was always the mysterious fighter." He paused. "I was outcast by everyone, even the people who were around me every day. Except for Jessamine." His voice saddened at her name, and Garrett knew he was remembering her death. Corvo's eyes were distant, picturing her body, limp and bloody in his hands as he spoke, "She was the only one who kept me sane. She didn't treat me any differently. She was the only one who accepted me. She cared. And then I knew that I didn't have to be alone anymore." Corvo didn't feel his heart tug anymore when he remembered that she was gone. His grief was cut and burnt out of him at Coldridge. 

It was hard for Garrett to take meaning from what Corvo has just told him, considering he was still restrained. He got what he was saying -- he didn't have to isolate himself because of who he was and what he did, but that was bullshit. Being close to people when you're wanted by the law gets them in danger. 

Corvo saw that his words didn't reach Garrett but he hadn't really expected them to. He just wanted him to know why he was doing what he was going to do next. He shifted his weight back on Garrett again and brought their faces closer. Again, Garrett's eye glowed with white-hot pleasure, and he hated himself for it. 

"I'm doing for you what Jessamine did for me. I'll accept you for who you are. Every inch of you." His voice sharpened at the words, and Garrett shuddered. He did not like the sound of that. "When I'm done, if you still don't want me here, I'll go." He didn't wait for Garrett's reply if he had one. 

With Garrett's hood and scarf already removed, along with everything on his torso, Corvo began. He started with the scar over Garrett's glowing blue eye. It was glowing more intensely than usual, and Garrett seemed bothered by it. As Corvo brought his hand to Garrett's face he noticed his Mark was glowing the same blue. He wondered if the Outsider had marked Garrett with some power like his, but then dismissed it. He wondered if he was watching them right now, as the mysterious man seemed to watch and know everything. He didn't care. 

He kissed the scar that ran over Garrett's eye, above and below. Not pecks or sloppy kisses, but tender ones. Garrett went stiff and uncomfortable under them and he ground his teeth. 

It was hard to see the scars in the faint light, so Corvo had to feel for them, making Garrett's skin tingle with warmth. A small one on his forehead. A horizontal one across his Adam's apple that Corvo had to force his head upwards to get to, earning a surprised gasp. Another small one under the edge of his jaw. 

He moved Garrett's still restricted hands down on top of his chest to get a better feel for his arms and shoulders. There were a few stripes from arrows and bullets that had grazed him and he kissed them all while Garrett twisted, angry and embarrassed, his face red. The cold air made him shiver, but not as much as did Corvo’s inexplicably warm body heat. 

Corvo remembered seeing a puncture wound on Garrett’s hand earlier and felt it just to be sure. He pressed down on Garrett's opposite arm and joined the scarred hand with his so Garrett couldn't grab anything, then kissed both sides of the hand where something had pierced it all the way through. He then gently pushed that hand down and brought up the other one to examine it. Garrett fought more this time, encouraging Corvo's curiosity. 

There. In the gleam of the candlelight, he could see a long, deep, vertical scar on the forearm, below the wrist. He wondered how long ago it had been that Garrett had tried to take his own life. 

From the corner of his eye, even in the dim light, he could see Garrett flushed, his head turned away in shame. He wasn't trying to pull back his arm anymore. Corvo brought the scar to his lips and took his time kissing it with four intense, long kisses, glad the attempt had failed. 

Garrett tried to sneak a glance, but Corvo caught it and stared at him with his soft eyes, then whispered into Garrett's ear in a low, sincere voice, "I'm glad you're alive." Goosebumps appeared down Garrett's neck. 

Moving his arms up above him again, Corvo gently felt around his chest, finding a few long, thin scars and kissing them. There was a slice next to his navel and a deep, knife-sized scar in his side. Garrett's muscles twitched underneath Corvo's lips, remembering the searing, throbbing pain. 

Corvo couldn't go any further and still restrict Garrett's hands, so he paused to think for a moment. 

Garrett saw the flash of blue from Corvo's hand tattoo, and suddenly his arms were tied above his head with something--rope from on top of one of the barrels beside him, he realized--to one of the wooden slats on the headboard. It was inhumanly quick and he wanted to ask, but when he glanced back at Corvo, his heart stopped when he realized what he was doing.  
He was removing the rest of his clothes. 

He was already making fast work of taking off the bag strapped to his thigh, and when he finished with that, he went for Garrett's boots. Garrett thought he could use that to his advantage, maybe get a kick in, but Corvo had thought of that already. He sat on his knees with just enough weight not to hurt him, his back toward Garrett. He got the boots off fairly quickly and then turned around to start on Garrett's belt. 

Garrett breathed hard again, breaking out in cold sweat, head rushing and replaying the events in an alleyway a few months ago. Corvo stopped and brought his hand up to Garrett's face, the warmth calming the other man only a little. "I told you," he said. "I'm not going to hurt you." 

When Garrett seemed to be more at ease, Corvo returned to what he was doing, and Garrett's breathing was faster still, but not as fast or as hard as before. Corvo continued. He slipped the belt out of the loops and discarded it. He began gingerly pulling the pants down the hips as they squirmed, and slid them off. A bright red blush ran down Garrett's body and he turned his head away. 

Corvo felt Garrett’s legs and found a puncture scar on the side of his thigh and he kissed it. There were several scars from the cuts of swords, some deep, some not, and Corvo kissed them all. There were many scars on his knees. Years of running and plenty of falls. He kissed them, knowing that there had been a time for both of them when the sting of scraped knees had been the worst pain either had ever felt. There were blister scars on his ankles from years of breaking in new boots, but nothing more, and Corvo moved back up. 

He put both of his hands above Garrett's hips which swayed in nervousness, his thumbs caressing the smooth skin that wriggled and turned to gooseflesh under his touch. He knew there were no scars there; he was slowly working his way down towards the trousers, gauging Garrett's reaction as he went. He didn't know how Garrett would take it. He knew that something had happened to Garrett somewhat recently and he would stop if it was too much. 

Garrett wasn't stupid. He knew what Corvo was doing. He couldn't help but move his hips, another part of his body that writhed as a result of the humiliation. His face, no, his whole body was hot because of it, too. 

This wasn't somebody using him for their desires, giving Garrett room in his mind to escape them. Corvo felt and kissed every flaw, confronted every secret. His entire attention was on Garrett. He noticed every twitch, every movement, every breath, and could read his emotions easily, and Garrett hated it. He had no escape. 

Eventually, Corvo brought his fingers to trace the top of the trousers. Garrett tried to control his breathing as chills swept down his body. Another surge of panic came to him and he tried to fight it down. Corvo stopped what he was doing and waited for Garrett to recover. 

Finally, he did, with a deep breath. He got the courage to look at Corvo, his eyes pleading him not to take them off. Corvo recognized the look but did not budge. Garrett shut his eyes and laid his head back in dread and acceptance, trying to remind himself that it was Corvo and not anyone else. 

Garrett was now fully exposed and his body was hot and crimson with a fresh serving of embarrassment. He turned his head and buried it in his own arm, feeling Corvo's eyes on him. 

Corvo was impressed by the sight but respectfully ignored it to avoid Garrett hating him even further. He stroked Garrett's tense muscles, searching. Surely enough, there was a small scar on his left hip, and the kiss earned a stifled gasp. Almost too close for him. After feeling around thoroughly and determining that there were no more scars to be found there, Corvo continued. 

"Now, you're not going to like this. I'm going to turn you over." 

Garrett clenched his jaw just thinking about it, not embarrassed by the scars on his backside but worried about how Corvo would react to them. They were relatively new, and Corvo would know, but Corvo had probably already guessed something like that had happened to Garrett. The larger man turned him over, twisting the rope, and suddenly stopped at what he saw. 

Corvo's blood boiled at the sight and he clenched his fists. Crude bite marks, healed but recent on the back of Garrett's neck, all down his back in every direction, and even on his buttocks. Corvo simply stood for a moment, fighting down the rage. 

Garrett's muscles were tense in anticipation and he burned with shame. He knew it would upset Corvo. He could hear his sharp, angry breath. Probably imagining cutting the throats of the men that did it. 

Corvo's weight returned to the double bed and Garrett realized he had held his breath. There was a long scar from a sword or a knife on the top of his shoulder and he shivered when Corvo kissed that one. 

Corvo readily and more heatedly kissed the bite marks. Every single one, as if erasing them. He probably wished he could. Garrett squirmed beneath him, remembering how the men crowded him and pinned him down on his stomach. He was glad Corvo had probably guessed as such and wasn't putting any weight on him. He was getting tenser as the memory came back; Corvo trailed the kisses on the marks. By the time he got to the small of his back, caressing the dimples shadowed by candlelight, Garrett had his face buried in the pillow, knowing where Corvo was going. 

After a moment, Corvo made his way down further. Garrett thrashed and tried to say something and sharply gasped when Corvo kissed those, too. 

He felt Garrett's back jerk once, and then again, in some sort of pattern, and realized it was his breath hitching from crying that was muffled in the pillow. Corvo rubbed soothing half circles on Garrett's back. The movement was the last crack in the dam that held back Garrett's uncontrollable sobbing. Corvo let it happen, still rubbing. 

There were some scars on the backs of Garrett's legs, but only small ones. And that was the end of it. 

Corvo moved back up to the head of the bed to untie him, still crying into the pillow. He wasn't scared that Garrett would try something; he was too tired, too broken. Corvo massaged the top of his back and it seemed to calm him some. He laid down next to him on the other pillow, still caressing. 

"Come here," Corvo said in a tender voice, but it was not a request. 

Garrett weakly obliged, sniffling as he did. He scooted closer, his eyes puffy and red, and his face streaked with tears. He couldn't remember the last time he'd cried in front of someone. He couldn't remember the last time he'd cried. 

Corvo held Garrett's face in his hands and wiped away the tears from the red, exhausted eyes, and then pulled him into his chest, the smaller man's breath still shaky. Garrett hadn't been able to sleep easily since the incident, but when Corvo pulled the warm cotton blanket over him, in no time at all he was snoring lightly in his embrace. Corvo, satisfied, soon fell asleep, too.

From the depths of the Void, the Outsider smiled a big, knowing smile.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed the read so far, but if you have any criticisms, please let me know as this is my first ever fic.


End file.
